The Road to Rule
by Sinerra
Summary: A story about many characters interweaving stories, R.A.I.D, and the continued existence of Pokemon! Infiltration! Probably romance! Can't miss out on my bad jokes in each chapter, especially! (Manga Universe) First fanfic, reviews appreciated. DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon, or any of the characters. Read & Review! Chapter 4: Mentally Draining Tasks.
1. Chapter 1: Prolouge

Chapter 1

The Road to Rule is a hard lifestyle. A dream is a dream, to be followed by many, and accomplished by few. Red's lifelong dream to become the most respected, revered trainer had come alive, bringing with it the satisfaction of accomplishing his goal. However, with becoming the champion, his reward was isolation- from friends and family. This is the result.

Red: Age 20, Location: The Pokemon League/Kanto, Date: January 2nd, Year: +10

I stood in an empty room, save for some neatly painted lines directing the boundaries for the many battles fought here. Upon closer inspection, anyone could tell that the floor was beaten and scratched beyond repair. I suppose that, in any case, this wasn't a room to be shown off though. Being the champion, I spent my days making up battle strategies and then proceeding to put them into effect in the challenges I face daily, new trainers coming to show their prowess in their attempts at besting me. To be honest, I used to love it- the attention, the respect, and especially the fights themselves. Even now, everyone wants to be in my shoes. Maybe I should let them. Maybe it would be better to retire before things got worse than they already are. The child I was kept me from ever putting my thoughts into effect. How could I actually give up this great position I had worked so hard for? I love it here!... Or so I somehow force myself to believe. As the days went by, I felt as if I was just going through the motions, shuffling from my house and back, conquering trainers who managed to make it past my elite four.

In the beginning, I had continued to live back in Pallet Town, living out my exciting life of trainers from all sorts of places coming to challenge me. Of course, the media bothered me and everyone else, but it was somehow bearable despite the constant threats and trials we were put though. It was all in all a pretty fun life to lead. It only started to go wrong when instead of me, the reporters began to stalk my friends. At first, we had all laughed at the magazine cover of Blue in a pretty hilarious looking dress, or that time when Green was caught by the cameras while falling off of a tree limb, trying to get Vee down. It was only after a while that the news started to get a hell of a lot darker, and I really mean it. The first incident would've had to have been when a picture was released of Green supposedly beating Yellow, when as a viewer of this event myself, I can say that it's pretty false. Yellow was actually freaking out about a poisonous spider, and no one wanted to get close enough to it in order to get it off of her until Green finally was forced to.

After this was released, people started to wonder about Green and his reputation started to falter. I immediately took action and appeared in a report about the incident, but somehow I managed to make it worse. Instead of listening to my side of the story, the press made it into a scandal, and released that I was trying to cover for Green only because I had some fault in it myself. Some weeks after this came the accusations on Prof. Oak. This was the last straw with Green. He told me himself one day after I had finally gotten some free time at home. I remember the day like it was yesterday.

I'm sitting in my living room, TV on, Mom watching the TV, Pika on the couch with me. The door opens, I don't bother to turn around, since only a few people had keys to my house in the first place. Green walks around to stand in front of me, blocking the TV.

"Uh, you're kinda blocking the TV there, care to move?" I say, in a pretty uncaring, 'oh look it's Green again' type of voice.

"Look Red, we've got to talk about what's been going on. They have taken it too far, and you know it." Green says, looking unhappy as ever. I knew something was wrong, but at that moment I really just wanted to see if the trainers of those tepig decided to break up or not.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'll figure out something to do. I mean, as long as we don't give them anything to work with, those reporters will loose interest, right? Don't worry about it." I say, making shooing motions and trying to look past him and at the TV, silently rooting in my head for the guy to just propose already.

For a moment, I look up. And in that moment, almost as if it were slow motion, I see Green holding the latest issue of a popular newspaper. The headline was "Famous Professor on Suspension Due to Rumor". Green looks down at me, and only shakes his head before dropping the newspaper and one of the spare house keys onto my lap. He walks back to the door, sighs, and walks out slamming it behind him. My mom just sort of looked at the door, and then me, with that sad pity face someone might show if your relative died. The tepig couple broke up for good in the background.

The days that followed were practically torture. I refused to leave the house, wondering what other damage I could have done. Blue came by one day, gave me another one of those depressed looks, and after seeing my condition just left again. Yellow came by almost every day, with varying attempts to try and cheer me up. Pretty sure she was doing the same for Green and Blue. On one occasion some of my junior Pokedex holders actually came by from differing regions. I had already met most of them from one occasion to another, but this was different. Some gave me cold looks, some sad, some outright disgusted. I remember once that Gold came by ranting at people outside my house, which was pretty funny to watch, but otherwise I guess all the others either heard the bad things or just felt bad for me. I never had a chance to tell them otherwise. The last day I was in Pallet Town, Yellow came by again, as usual.

"Reeeeeddddddd, you really should get out of the house by now." Yellow practically yawns as she walks through the door and flops onto the couch in front of the TV.

I stare blankly at the ceiling. This was pretty routine by now. I was just about to reply with another of my "No thanks" responses, when the TV channel changes to Blue and Green being questioned at the Lab about my odd behavior. Forcefully.

"What the he-" is all I could muster up before yellow dragged me and I was running out the door to the nearby lab. The crowd parted and we ran inside, trying best as possible to block our faces from the cameras. Some of the people didn't even have cameras, they were wearing some sort of lab suit and just crowding up the place. We went in, and we teleported out with an extra Blue and Green via Pokemon.

"Thanks Red." Says a slightly disgruntled Blue. "I don't even know why they're so hard on us..it's not like we've done anything wrong.."

"It's because of those new damn researchers" curses green, looking past the forestry. "I swear they're out to get us all."

"New..what?" I say, fazed.

"Red, we need to stay out of this for awhile."

Blue and Green leave our hiding spot with grim looks. I knew that they weren't really mad, mostly on Blue's case, but a sinking feeling just kept nagging away at my mind, as it had for weeks now.

We were outside the town, in the woods. You could almost see the town from here, but it was still quite a ways away. As soon as I realized this, I didn't really want to go back. It would only mean causing more pain for my friends, if I could even still say that they were my friends. I was the one who attracted the extension, wasn't I? I look down at yellow.

"I'm leaving." I say, almost absentmindedly.

"Yeah..." Yellow starts until she processes what I actually said. "Wait, you're doing what?" She looks at me, bewildered and very much shocked. "How could you leave, where would you even _go_?"

"Yellow, you know I can't stay here, I mean, you've _seen_ what has happened." I look up at the sky. It was probably right then that an unrelenting doubt just fell on me, and flattened me under its unimaginable weight. Yellow was pretty much all I had left. The day her face changed to just another depressed look or cold stare was the day I lost everything. _I couldn't do that, I just can't bear to hole myself up again._ The pressure to leave was practically suffocating me at that point. I basically had one last attempt. "Yellow," I said, feeling as if I were choking, looking at the bright, sunny, cloudless sky. "Will you come with me?"

She looked at me, looked at the ground, and turned around before she could say anything else. "Red, I..."

I _can't._

I couldn't look at her again, I could pretty much feel the depressed look she had. "Goodbye, Yellow." I whispered barely enough to be audible. I dared the unthinkable and looked down at her one last time before calling out my Pokemon to fly me elsewhere. I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't really care. This was what being depressed was. I couldn't feel worse. In the air, I only had one thing I could think to say.

"It's a bad day for rain."

The door opens and another challenger comes into the room. I snap out of my reminiscence and look over at him. A pretty rough trainer, by the looks of it, but not one who is going to be taking my title. I proceed to start the match and put out my first Pokemon, Pika.

"Thunderbolt!" Down goes a gyrados.

"Iron Tail!" And another one falls, a flareon.

"Thunderbolt!" The third Pokemon was slightly stronger, a blastoise this time. Still, the effective attack took it down, KO.

This pretty much continued until the battle was over, the trainer standing in front of me with shock written all over their face.

Sometimes, I don't understand how these people can even make it to the champion's room. Maybe the elite four just make it easy out of pity for me, so I have something to do. Well, maybe I don't want their damn pity.

* * *

 **Well, this turned out to be considerably darker than I thought it would. It's not a tragedy, or psychological, or horror, I swear. The next chapter will be something about Yellow, probably. Dang though, that is one depressed Red o~o. Well, this is my first attempt at writing so don't get on to me too much if you review, kay? Haha, just kidding, please do review though, would appreciate some constructive feedback.**

 **p.s. R.I.P Maes Hughes**

 **p.s.s. The chapters will be considerably longer from here on out (probably) and may switch POV. With this story I'm headed towards an adventure/probably romance tag, and I haven't really chosen the characters I will focus on, but I will try to cover a lot. ALSO, the +10 year thing is how many years since Red began his journey, since I don't want to put a straight year. He started his journey at 11, but it's the beginning of the year so his birthday hasn't come around yet~**

 **Red: Geez, could you make it sound anymore like I'm going mentally insane?**

 **Me: you're not insane, just feeling a little... Abandoned, that's all. Don't worry, I'm sure Yellow will come for you :3**

 **Yellow: Wh-what?! It's not like we're... I mean... ummm...**

 **Me: So cute I'm gonna die, anyways,**

 **Red &Yellow: Review please if you took the time to read this way too long author's note!**


	2. Chapter 2: R A I D

The Road to Rule: Chapter 2

Yellow created her own goal from dust, from the ashes of her life around her. To use her knowledge and skills to create a better place, for others to live out their less dramatic lives. She decided to become a Pokemon ranger- not just any run-of-the-mill ranger- but one who truly helped the world benefit.

Yellow: Age 18. Location: SPU (Special Capturing Unit) Advanced Ranger Academy (Johto, near Ecruteak City) Date: January 9th, Year: +10

My Senior year.

Not that I had spent much time at the academy in the first place, only three years. The academy is my home, right in the middle of the lovely forests around Ecruteak City, although the layout is kind of confusing. SPU Academy has a couple of areas referred to as 'sites', basically just the places most of the students gather, and there are actually buildings. Like the main site, for example, which held the staff building, library, study hall, and so forth, and was all enclosed by a heavy gate, manned by regular security forces. Other than that, there are the two dorm sites.

The second site, commonly referred to as "the box" was made up of the lower grade student dorms. The dorm is pretty much a huge box, with a cut out center for a courtyard. The box itself is a stone building with wood flooring, and the occasional window coveted by all students. It's about two stories tall, the hallways are big enough for two people to stand side-by-side, and each room is about the minimum size you can have with a bed, a closet, and a small desk. It's pretty laughable, considering how prestigious the academy is. The plus side is, the whole dorm is surrounded by tall trees- save for a small path leading back to the main campus, which makes it an extremely comfortable way to live. For me anyway.

The other dorms, for the more- how should I put this- overly "gifted" students, are practically next door to the main campus site, and are protected by equally thick security. Their dorms look more like a high-class hotel, or maybe a resort or something? All that fancy stuff crammed into an equally fancy building. A headache if you ask me. The dorms over there are easily twenty times the size of the box's rooms, and they probably get a 5-star breakfast. Barely anyone could afford- I mean, live up to the expectations of the dorm to actually stay there. I mean seriously, it has a _pool._

The academy likes to say that all students are given equal opportunity to excel and be rewarded, and I guess I can't really argue, because high ranking students really are asked to live there. On the other hand, that's only about four or five students a year, and that dorm holds at least sixty. Let's just say a lot of donations are given to the academy, and they all come from names. Names that the students have, the students that live in that dorm.

Anyway, the rest of the school isn't really a specified area, other than the training sites for students to have field classes or get in some much-pressured training. Really, it's just a no-go zone for anyone who isn't supposed to be there. The school holds a lot of rare Pokemon, rare research, and just about everything on new ranger tech. Hell, this academy is the one that _creates_ the new ranger tech. It isn't the top ranger academy for just anything. There's a reason I am here, and it's not just to screw off.

I walk down one of the many paths that help navigate the forever-expanding campus until I reach the main gate, guarded by two rather sleepy-looking men in black uniforms, with the SPU logo (a black ring, with a golden net background). As I approach them, it seems they're already talking about something.

"Those people, they've just been trying for attention and whatnot, it's best to ignore it." The older guard looks like he's been arguing.

"But Sir, it's not like anything is prove-" The younger guard is cut off as they notice me.

"Good-morning Miss." The older guard says as I approach the gate.

"Good morning~" I say, fishing around for my student ID. The younger guard, who is stationed here every morning, shakes his head.

"Miss, have you forgotten your ID again?" He asks politely, although frowning probably because of the earlier conversation.

"Uhm,..." I fish around in my bag some more. "Not againnn.."

The younger guard gives another head-shake. "Just go on through, I know it's a long walk back to the dorm." The older guard mutters something under his breath, but still waves me through.

I nod in thanks, and walk through the towering black gates of the academy.

When you first walk in through the gates, you're either in a palace or a prison. You'd better decide quickly. The stone road can take you to any of the major buildings, curving along various paths. The massive library and the study hall are to your direct right, while the food court and some of the indoor classrooms are on your left. The place itself is gorgeous, with running waterfalls, scattered plants and various types of beautiful flowers that have no possible way of growing in this climate naturally. On the other hand, there is security everywhere. All the time. Cameras, guards, growlithe, you name it.

I wave as I pass by a couple of freshman students, you can tell by their uniforms. Orange stripe, zero stars. All of the winter uniforms are black shirts with collars, and either pants or skirt depending on male/female. It's not uncommon to see the girls wear pants, though. The only real differences are the shoulders and the collars. On the shoulders, there is an orange (freshman), yellow (sophomore), white (junior), or gold (senior) stripe. On the collar, there can be up to three golden stars, showing your rank. While the top rank is actually ten, we can't rank above three until graduation. The actual ranger uniforms differ in which location you work in, but the Rangers here wear gold and white.

I spot the indoor classrooms as I continue to walk down the left side of the area, petting the occasional Pokemon that sticks out its head of the bushes. My first-hour class is Evolutionary Theory II, which sadly, is indoors. I step through the double-doors that lead to the first lecture hall. Today we're supposed to be having another lecture on mega evolution, but when I walk in, it looks like a different story. I throw my bag down onto a desk and join the crowd of seniors.

"What _happened_..?" A girl beside me asks, she's a fellow two-star senior.

"I..dont.." I struggle to weave through the brigade of people blocking my already short view. "Kno-wh-ahhhh!?" I burst out the front of the crowd, to find my homeroom teacher gasping on the floor. I hear whispering behind me.

"Someone has already gone to get a medic, what else can we do?"

"He looks like he's been _paralyzed_ or something."

"But.. Mr. Berlitz... He was fine just a few minutes ago!"

A thump alerts everyone to a change in his condition. My teacher falls to the floor, apparently unconscious, but he was still breathing. The rest of the students start whispering again, something about a raichu. Some screaming is heard from the lobby in a very conspicuous fashion, until the double-door classroom entrance flashes open.

"Medic! Coming through! Move it move it, out of the way!" A nurse comes running into the room followed by six professional Rangers, who proceed to block everyone's view of the teacher after clearing all the students out of the way.

"Attention all students!" A 6-star ranger announces, "everything will be fine, our medic will put Mr. Berlitz into better care. Please proceed to follow Captain Richard here to an outdoor lesson!"

Captain Richard turned out to be this bell-sergeant looking man, a few scars here and there, eyepatch, he's got it all. If his job didn't work out as a ranger, he could go sign up to be a pirate, that's all I'm saying.

The class starts to walk out the doors back into the lobby, but Captain Bell Sergeant over there clearly had something to say.

"Before you take one damn step outta that door, you'd better slow your asses down, cause we're gonna have a talk." I stop and turn around, the rest of the students around me slowly do so as well.

"I'm not gonna hear one word out of you kids about this incident. Period. This is damn well classified, and if I learn about anything that happened here has spread to anyone, you'd better be damned to hell before I come after ya, or you're gonna wish ya were already down there." He stops for a moment, letting that sink in, "Dismissed to your outdoor class."

I probably hear the best comment for what I was thinking right now from the guy standing right behind me.

"We're in some deep shit now."

* * *

Yellow Age:18 Location: SPU Academy. Date: January 13th, Friday. Year: +10

Five days have passed since the incident with my homeroom teacher, and things have only gotten worse since then. The outdoor class we had afterword turned into a disaster. As soon as we had gotten to the field, a bunch of Pokemon had attacked us. Not that it was a problem, we all had experience with performing captures, but it was odd nonetheless. The weirdest thing about it was, I couldn't feel anything but confusion from these Pokemon. They weren't mad, but they felt, _caged_ , I guess.

I lay with a pillow behind my back on my small bed with Chuchu sleeping on my lap, doing my Type Studies III homework. It was already late in the day, and a lot of my classes were canceled this week for some reason. My room wasn't too bad of a place to be. Being the head of the girl's dorm had a few perks, even if it was in the box. First of all, I have one of the very few rooms with a window, and arguably one of the biggest rooms in the dorm. (By at least a couple inches!) Second of all, I have a TV, which isn't really much of a perk, because all of the juniors below me like to invite themselves in to use the TV. The TV is on in the background while I finish up my homework.

 _Knock knock knock._

I sigh. Probably more juniors here to steal my alone time. I ignore it.

 _Knock knock knock._

"I'm sorry, but I am pretty busy right now, could you come back later?" I feel pretty bad, since they're so persistent.

 _KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

The loudness scares me out of my usual sleepiness.

"Get out here, Senior Yellow! We've got places to go, things to do~~~"

" **GOLD,** could you keep your voice down!? This is a dorm!"

Quite frankly, the female voice wasn't being so quiet either.

"Aww common Cris, you know everything I do is for you~"

Silence.

And then screaming.

I open the door to find Gold and Crystal interlocked in some sort of wrestling hold, Gold flailing and screaming, Crystal looking murderous. Silver is standing in the hallway, looking at a pokegear, paying zero attention to the problematic couple.

"Er, did you need me for something?" I stood there, peeking out into the hallway, pajamas on, Chuchu on my shoulder, _Pokemon Types and Their Effect_ (my book) in one hand and a questioning look on my face. And the TV is still on.

Crystal, in her awkward position on the floor, turns around to look at me and blushes, realizing exactly what she's doing. She steps up and brushes off her lab coat, giving one last 'don't you ever do that again' look to Gold before looking at me.

"Ah, sorry for that- _incident_ \- just now. You probably want to know why we're here." Crystal's calm demeanor returns in a flash.

"That would be helpful, yes," I start, almost giggling at the sight of Gold mimicking Crystal in the background. "Not that I don't always appreciate random visits in the middle of the night, but there must be something more."

Crystal glares at Gold behind her, who is now walking slowly away and whistling. Silver looks up, looks at Gold, and then goes back to doing whatever Silver does.

"Actually, we have two reasons for coming here." Crystal says. "They're both a bit complicated, so I'll just tell you about one right now, the other topic can wait."

I yawn.

"What can I help you with, Crystal?"

"Actually, I would like to hear about the incident with Prof. Berlitz. You see, I am doing some research for Platina at the moment, involving her father, and I heard that you were there in person. Would you care to tell me about it?" Crystal says brightly, although her concern for the fellow PokeDex holder shows.

That's when the guilt hits me. I don't know how she learned about Professor Berlitz, but it was still classified information. I could be suspended from the academy for doing this without permission, or worse, _expelled_.

"Crystal, I can't just talk to you about that kind of stuff. It's classified. I'm sorry, really." My guilt shows, and she must notice it because she tries again.

"Please, Yellow I-" the TV interrupts her loudly, spilling sound out into the hallway.

"And on camera now, a researcher from R.A.I.D facilities, claiming to know something about an unknown virus!" Crystal rushes into my room, along with Gold, who just throws himself on my bed. Silver looks up from what he's doing and walks over to peek in through the door.

A peppy looking lady with pink hair comes on screen with a good-looking black haired guy in a lab suit.

"So Mr.-"

"Sparks"

"Mr. Sparks, you claim to have information on an unknown virus? Has something happened in the R.A.I.D. Labs?"

-"Oh, isn't raid or whatever that new Pokemon research place in Kanto?" Gold asks with no real intention of getting an answer. "I forgot what it stands for-"

-"Shush it, Gold-!" Says (everyone else there) simultaneously.

"No, no, nothing of the sort. You see my dear Miss Chelia, the scientists at the lab have recently found a mutation of a type of illness-"

"Oh my! Is it lethal? Are we in any immediate danger? What is going to happen to the R.A.I.D facilities now?"

"...a type of illness commonly referred to as paralyzation."

"Oh! So quite like the status condition!"

"In a sense, yes, but for now my scientists are still conducting experiments as to what this could mean for Pokemon and humans alike."

"Well, do promise to come back onto our show and share your findings! The world must know~!"

"Of course, my dear."

"And that concludes today's news program. Stay tuned for the next hit-series TV show: "Speaking of Pokemon"!

"Hey, so, is that what you were wanting to talk with Senior Yellow about, Cris~?" Gold asks, pretty nonchalantly.

"It.. Is.." Crystal answers nervously, then turns around to look at me, nervously, and I return the look. "I think we can postpone asking you any questions today, Yellow. Sorry for the intrusion."

"Right.. No problem.." I start reminiscing about earlier events of the week. "Oh, wait," I say before they slowly exit my room, minus Silver who is already in the hallway again. "Didn't you have something else you wanted to talk about?"

"Oh! Right, how could I forget. Well, I'll let Silver do the honors, because it's the only reason he is here." We all step out into the hallway, while Crystal and Gold give up their space so Silver actually has room.

"I'm supposed to invite you to a wedding."

* * *

Yellow: A whaaaaat?!

Silver: A wedding

Yellow: Who's?!

Silver: Red's

Everyone in the universe: o_o"

Silver: I am joking.

Yellow: Really?

Me: No~! Red's getting married to you!

Yellow: ...

Me: Just not for a few more years~! (/◕ヮ◕)/

Me: Anyway, as much as I like my first chapter, I'm a pretty impatient person and want to start the actual plot, so I'm releasing the second chapter before I probably should. I tried reaaaaaalllly hard to make up with some humor in this one~ hope you enjoyed! Please review and see you next chapter!

Yellow: ...*blushing furiously at the thought of her own wedding*

Red: I wasn't even MENTIONED in this chapter, I mean seriously, I could've at least been in one of those picture-of-all-your-friends-when-they-where-younger-sitting-on-your-desk things!


	3. Chapter 3: Is This a Joke?

The Road to Rule Chapter 3: Is This a Joke?

Red: Age 20. Location: ?, Kanto. Date: January 20th

A light flashes violently, causing everyone in the room to shield their eyes. As the brightness recedes, the dust clears to two fainted Pokemon lying on the floor of a busy facility.

"...Poli, you did great. Return."

A red flash and the Pokemon returns to its master.

"Ah ha ha ha! Just as good as a champion should be, taking out five of my Pokemon with just one! Still can't believe I managed to take even one with me!" The man with styled black hair in a lab coat gestures to his last pokeball. "Might as well finish the job, no?"

"Whatever you prefer." I say, not really caring either way.

I throw Pika's ball out, and a strip of red light begins the last battle.

The opponent this time was a rather agitated-looking Ampharos, sparking out before any command is issued by the trainer. This did nothing other than send sparks of electricity skirting across the floor, effectively limiting escape movement.

"Ah! What a marvelous Pokemon you have there. Clearly, much hard work and determination has been put into him." The black haired man says. "You'll see that just as much effort has been put into my Ampharos here!"

"Try to avoid any unnecessary damage!" The electricity coming from the Ampharos was spiking out across the metal room. Pretty much everything in here is metallic, and so super-conductive. The floor is concrete, though.

"Ampharos, use spark on the ceiling!" The scientist calls out, looking at the metal rafters and pipes above us.

"Pika! Jump off the wall!" The mouse Pokemon had been doing its best to avoid contact with the other Pokemon by climbing the wall, which meant he would quickly become the ground for the wave of electricity about to hit the ceiling.

CRACK

A booming sound echoes and I watch as the lights go out. Even with the lights out, with both electric-type Pokemon sparking every few seconds, you could see them fairly well.

"Use Iron Tail on Ampharos!" The small Pokemon could be seen every few steps as it sparked running to its target. Right before contact between the two, the other trainer issues a command:

"Ampharos! Use flash!" A brilliant light illuminates the scene and I stagger back from the sudden burst. Pika misses his target, but quickly recovers and lands on his feet.

"How convenient," I say, "Pika! Head up to the rafters above!"

"Use headbutt before he can climb up there!" The man says, looking pretty happy with himself.

"Dodge it!" Pika jumps from the piping he was climbing at the last second and lands on the floor.

The room quickly fills with steam and a steady gush of water comes out of the pipe.

The Ampharos saunters back over to stand in front of its trainer, dazed and quite wet.

"Use thunderbolt!" I shout, trying to peer through the thickening steam.

CRASH

I can't really see anything at this point, and neither can my Pokemon. Pika stands only a few feet in front of me, waiting for a command and staying on alert.

We stand there in silence, water hitting the floor making the only noise in the room.

A circle of light pierces the veil of steam and I squint to look at it. Only too late did I realize what it was coming from.

"Oh shit!" I bolt out of the way, Pika following my lead to barely miss a full blown hyper beam.

The beam of light shoots past me, showing me exactly where the Ampharos and his trainer are standing.

"Pika! Use iron tail!"

He bolts through the mist to Ampharos and hits him with a head-on attack while it's still recharging.

"Aha, I commend you on that one, Red!"

"Finish it with discharge!" Pika lets loose a wave of electric, conducting even more on the soaked floor. The Ampharos takes a step forward, and then falls, clearly fainted.

The scientist returns the fainted Pokemon to it's pokeball, and I do the same.

"Well fought, I without a doubt can say we have a worthy champion! Great match, and such determined Pokemon!" He says, and some scientists in the back are clapping as I walk to the other side of the room where they all are. "Well, shall we continue with your tour of the facility?"

"Ah-yea, I'm pretty interested in what you guys actually do here." He opens a door and we start walking down a brightly lit hallway.

"Here at R.A.I.D. facilities we try our best to research Pokemon interactions and effect on humans, as it is our goal to, as you might say, study possibilities and uncover facts."

"So.. You're an over glorified Pokemon research facility? There are a ton of those already."

"Not quite. Unlike the so many other facilities, we take a more in depth approach, and as appropriately, we study more closely on a few things than all around on the whole. In particular, we study the direct effect Pokemon can have on humans- as far as modern medicine and diseases go."

The small group in front of me stops with the scientist as he points through one of the rooms you can see through a window from the hallway.

"For example, here we are experimenting on faster cures for more toxic types of poisons, notably-"

"I heard you were more interested in paralysis lately."

"Very astute. I'm afraid I will only be able to answer such questions closer to the end of the tour, however."

"Guess I'll just have to wait then, won't I?" I say, looking him in the eyes.

"Indeed. On to the topic at hand, we hire specialists from all over the world to fulfill our interests, and recently have made a few breakthroughs." He walks over and peers through another window opposite of the earlier one.

Through the window, I see an ekans and a ton of shed skins.

"Through trial and error, these scientists have developed many medicines from an inflicted ekan's skin-"

"That sounds horrifying." I don't really mind, to be honest, but it reminded me of something Blue said once about snakes.

"Well, I suppose so, but-"

"I guess it has something to do with being able to hold in the properties of the inflictions?"

He looks surprised, like he didn't expect me to be capable of rationality.

"Yes, in fact- we have found it extremely useful in deducting ways to minimize damage from many illnesses, however especially so from specific status conditions."

"I still don't see how you're actually making a difference. There has been medicine for these things since way before when this facility was started."

"Ah, but that's where you are wrong. Pokemon are always adapting, changing, and so are the conditions they can afflict. Constant evolution and change requires precisely the same with the study of medicine and the understanding of these afflictions."

"So you're saying that status afflictions can mutate?"

"Yes, in fact I am."

"So all you do here is make tiny improvements on pre existing medicines." Apparently this wasn't such a great facility after all.

"No. Like I said before, we study illnesses as well as medicine. We create vaccines for new viruses before they can cause damage to any living creature. The new medicines come from our research- you can't simply put our job description as 'improvers', as we are more like, perhaps, 'evolvers' of medicine and treatment."

A scientist walks through one of the doors in the background walks up to the lead researcher.

"Sir, you have another visitor waiting for you at the front desk."

"Oh- well, I have another guest with me already. Could you ask them to wait for a little while?"

"Sir, it happens to be Professor Oak."

"Oh, well you should have began with that my dear." He says, rather exasperated. "Send her right in." He turns around to look at me. "I hope you won't mind the extra company on your tour?"

Professor Oak. Well, haven't seen an Oak in a hell of a long time, and didn't really plan to anytime soon.

"I think I'll be on my way out- I can come by tomorrow."

"Nonsense! If you have questions at all, then Miss Oak is the one to ask."

Miss?

"Oh!- Mr. Sparks, I have many things to speak with you about-" she looks my direction, back at the scientist, and then walks closer a bit slower. "Well, I'm afraid that I haven't seen you lately, Red- um, two years, now?"

"And counting." I turn to leave.

Daisy Oak, guess I shouldn't have expected otherwise, but hey. Of all the Oaks that could have been Professor Oak, she was the only one I could probably deal with at the moment.

"Oh- Red, I know what happened but it's not like you were the only one who has problems- I've been trying to get Green to talk to you, but he said he's triedandBluewon'tstoppesteringhim and thensomethinghappanedwith that onegirl-Platina-orsomethingandtheneveryonefinallyagreedthat-" she takes a gasp for air.

Or maybe Oaks are poisonous.

"Daisy."

"Red."

"Don't"

"Red- please, just listen-"

I guess R.A.I.D or whatever could develop a cure for Oaks. At least that wouldn't be a waste of their time.

"At least let me invite you to-"

"Daisy, I don't have an issue with you, really, so just leave me be goddammit."

"-my wedding."

"What?"

"Well, see, I wanted Green or Blue to invite you- but,"

"No thanks."

"Red-"

"Ahem"

"Really Daisy"

"Really doesn't cut it, I would just like to see my little brother happy again, and it wouldn't hurt if you just snapped out of it Red."

"Fine, I'll go." Like hell I would.

A look of pure happiness on her face almost makes me feel guilty. Almost.

"Ohhhh you won't regret it!"

She runs and hugs me. "Everyone will be so happy again- and I'll make sure nothing bad happens and it'll be just wonderful-"

"AHEM" a loud cough from the annoyed scientist.

"I'm glad you're resolving some- ah- issues, but please keep in mind that we're on a pretty tight schedule here."

"Oh! Of course- I'm sorry- I just didn't expect to see Red here of all people!" Daisy steps back a few feet.

"It's quite alright, however I would like to finish his tour here of the R.A.I.D facilities, if you don't mind."

"Yes, of course!"

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

Blue: Age 20, Location: Viridian City a Pokemon Gym, Date: Jan 21

"So the flower arrangements are finished with?"

"First thing that was done."

"The invitations?"

"Still being worked on, but for the most part, finished."

"What about the cake?"

"Mm... ... ."

"Green! The cake is basically the most important task you had!"

"I'll get it done."

I sigh. I had been asked (by Daisy) to help coordinate her wedding plans, which in turn I had divided up among others, namely Green. I think I had put Silver in charge of the more out-of-the-way invitations, but otherwise Green and I had been hand writing them to send by mail.

"You're failing to support your own sister's wedding, Green." I shake my head.

"You're the one who wanted to be in charge."

We've been sitting in the back of the pokemon gym for a few hours now, laptops out, paper everywhere, doing various tasks. Among other things, I'm also supposed to be working on some report about Glooms poison, investigating something about a certain Berlitz, Inviting Red, in person, to a certain wedding, and heading over to Sinnoh.

The newest additions to the Pokedex holders happened to live in sinnoh, so we were supposed to be heading over there sometime soon to greet them, except suddenly things started getting busy. Diamond, Pearl, and Platina. Interesting kids, but what really got me was Platina's father- Professor Berlitz, a renowned billionaire, not to mention esteemed researcher. We all have some interesting backgrounds, but last week I heard something from a little birdie about the same professor, while doing a lecture in a school, was knocked unconscious from an illness during class. What was really odd though was that apparently he had no symptoms beforehand, and it was simply instantaneous.

"I see that you think you can get away with giving me all your work and then spacing out."

So I had Crystal look into the details, and it turns out he was giving the lecture at Yellow's school, of all places- but not only that, it was her class, too. I mean, what better luck could I have! First-person point of view on the incident.

A sigh, "Blue."

I look up, blinking. "Hmm?"

Green barely makes an attempt to point at the front door, which was a good thirty feet from where we were sitting, and upon further inspection a yellow-haired girl in a Johto ranger's uniform was peeking her head through the door.

"Hey, Yellow!" I stand, and then start running to go to hug the girl.

"How have you been, Blue?" She asks sheepishly, before getting crushed by my hug.

A laugh comes from behind us as Green comes towards the gym entrance. "Pesky woman, you're going to choke her."

I pout, letting Yellow go. "Don't be taking this as an excuse to get out of work."

"Wouldn't think of it." Green plants a kiss right on my cheek, surprising Yellow who started blushing enough to make _me_ embarrassed.

"So when are you finally graduating, Yellow?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

"Um.. Well.. It'll be some time in May, I think." She was looking all around the gym, I guess trying to avoid our eyes.

"Soooo, why did you decide to pay us this long-awaited visit? It's been almost a year, hasn't it?"

"Well, I got that invitation from Silver, and, with my classes being out this week I had some time off."

"So what I'm hearing is, you've come to help me with wedding preparations" I smile devilishly. "You won't have a second to yourself."

She looks defeated, like she had accepted her fate, so I began to corral her to the setup of laptops and paperwork while Green salutes her sacrifice.

* * *

Diamond Age:12 Location: Jubilife City, Sinnoh Date: January 25th

"Speaking of Pokemon!"

"Speaking of Pokemon.."

"I heard that there's a magnet train from Johto to Kanto."

"You don't say."

"The train uses magnets to attract it to the rail, and the train can go forwards and backwards really fast!"

"I learned how to do this too, just not with trains."

"Really!?"

"Yeah, my fridge must be a magnet too, because I keep going back right after I've left."

"IDIOT, that's not how it works, you just like food!"

"CUT!"

"Whew, finally through with that." Pearl throws himself down onto a spare chair on the wide stage.

"Yeah, I thought I'd have threw the towel on that one already." I follow his lead, but only after grabbing one of the many snacks off of the table nearby.

"Really, rather than that I bet the audience was blew away by that last one."

"But I really thought we had done better than make them blue."

"Idiot! It doesn't mean sad!"

Laughing is echoed across the room by the remaining film crew, and people begin filing out of the room until we're just about the last people in there.

"So when were those other..whatchamacallits.." I begin

"Pokedex holders?"

"Yea, Pokedex holders, I heard some were supposed to come visit us and Platina."

"I think that was canceled, something about the Oaks." Pearl picks up his book and begins writing in it.

"Really? I thought Platina really needed to see one of them about something, though." I say, breaking into the package of crackers.

"Maybe she'll go there herself."

"I heard it was something about her da-" Pearl quickly smacks a hand over my mouth, simultaneously knocking my snack on to the floor.

"Shhhhhh... Hey, Platina, how ya been?" The richly dressed girl ascends the steps into the studio and stops right in front of us.

"Oh, I have been well, thank you."

I peer down at my crackers spilling out on the floor.

"I didn't know you were coming by today."

"It seems I have another favor to ask of you today, Diamond, Pearl."

"What is it?" Pearl asks politely, letting go of me as I dive for the food left behind.

"Well, you see, as I am sure you have both heard that our fellow Pokedex holders are no longer coming to visit, but I really must discuss something with them. Platina looks down, consequently finding me eating crackers off of the floor.

"...Anyway, I would like to ask the two of you to accompany me to the Kanto region to fulfill this task of mine."

"Of course!"  
"Mm Mmmph!"

* * *

Aaaaand so comes the end of chapter 3. I want to write longer chapters, so I just can't stop myself from adding multiple POV's this chapter. Also, I'm not that great at writing manzai, so don't hurt me Dia+Pearl .

Dia: *eating food*

Pearl: *writing real manzai*

Platina: *counting money*

Red: *starting to forgive people*

Yellow: *doing paperwork*

Blue: *spacing out*

Green: Wait, what exactly did you make me do this chapter?

Daisy: *i don't even know what her personality is, so to hell with the canonically correct!*

Me: Well, see you next time, tell me how I can improve!

Dia: Mmph MmmmmMmph!

Pearl: He's saying Please review! No, Really, please!


	4. Chapter 4: Mentally Draining Tasks

Reviews: Thanks for my two reviews! I tried to change a few things according to what they suggested- but as for the thing about shitty news reporters, I sort of explained that in this chapter.

Thanks for reading!

* * *

 **The Road to Rule: Chapter 4 /Mentally Draining Tasks**

Not that they had spent a lot of time doing so, but Ruby accomplished his goal of clearing all the contest rankings, and similarly, Sapphire completed her goal of conquering all of the Hoenn Pokemon gyms. However, as of late they have had pretty much nothing to do. They both attend school, but in different fashions. While Ruby takes sewing and coordination, Sapphire skips during math and only makes passing grades in PE.

 **Ruby Age:16 Location: His house, Hoenn. Date: January 27th**

It's not like I regret confessing to Sapphire, really. Just sometimes, when I'm sitting here watching tv while she's doing her doing crazy Sapphire things, I wonder how this could have turned out differently. Some sort of manzai act is on the tv while I watch Sapphire proceed to roll in mud from the , mud. At least I hope that's all it is.

"Speaking of Pokemon!"

"Speaking of Pokemon.."

"I once saw a crabby that was pretty agitated for some reason."

"You don't say."

"Yeah, I think another Pokemon had taken its berry away from him!"

"Yea, I get pretty crabby too when someone takes my food away."

"Idiot, the Pokemon not the emotion!"

"Sapphire! Don't ruin your brand new cloth-...es..."

SPLASH

SLOP

"Why do I even try...?"

My first mistake today- and certainly not my last- was walking outside.

"Ruby! Make yourself useful and get me that shovel-" a wave of thick, muddy water goes everywhere over me "that's better!" She says with a grin.

"Sapphire," I cringe looking at my shirt. "I'm covered in mud, you're covered in mud, this entire side of the house is brown, and I seriously hope to Arceus that you realize we have to leave for Kanto in a few hours."

"Yea yea..., ooh! That reminds me! Where's Emerald?" She pauses-"I bet Emerald would play with me." She pouts looking at me straight in the face, covered in mud, with puppy eyes.

I almost consider it, and then realize what I am considering.

"Sapphire, get cleaned off, seriously! We have around three hours to get packed-"

She continues to roll around in the mud. "Fine, give me your hand."

I sigh, then lean down to get her up-

SPLASH

And that was my second mistake.

~Around three hours later~

Sapphire, Emerald, and I were frantically running to the airport gate- approximately eight minutes before our flight left. Well, I might say we were running, but it was more Sapphire carrying Emerald and three bags of luggage, and me clearing the way of people. We bolted past signs, escalators, people, riots, hell, pretty much everything before we finally found our exit.

The lady standing at the desk wasn't very convincing with her friendly face today, she was pretty clearly annoyed with us for being so late, when this is literally the third time that we had come to the airport in the last three hours.

She sighs, "Good afternoon, please wait a minute while I check your tickets.."

"Sapphire set Emerald down already..." I facepalm watching Emerald fear for his life on top of three suitcases.

"This would've been so much easier if you had let me use my Pokemon to carry everything..." Sapphire mutters out loud.

"Sapphire, you know you can't have Pokemon taller than one foot inside of the airport. They'll kick you out."

"Stupid rules... Making me late..."

"Sapphire put me down!"

I roll my eyes, the only reason we were late was because of Sapphire's weird, messy pastimes.

"Here you go, please make your way to the plane." The lady hands us our tickets back, looking behind us as she does. "What's going on over there?"

Behind us a large group of people had gathered in a circle around something, or rather, someone. The entire area was chattering about something, but also being cleared out by security. The police had begun to set up some sort of segregation system of walls, too.

I shrug in response to the desk lady's question. "Dunno."

"You've been running around here since it started, you really didn't catch anything?"

"Uhhh... I don't-"

"OHMYARCEUS get on the plane already, you were the one who said we'd be late!" I began to get pushed around (not unusually) by Sapphire until we were on the plane.

We were sitting around the end of the plane, Sapphire and I on one side while Emerald had to share his side with a rather grumpy looking old woman and a five year old, the former sitting in the middle and the latter next to the window.

"Sapphire, do you remember what happened earlier?" I asked, trying to discern my blurry memories from the past three hours. To me, it just involved a lot of running, screaming, pushing, and flying everywhere from hell and up.

Sapphire looks at me and shrugs. "Didn't some guy collapse while waiting when we were here earlier? Maybe that's what they were worried about."

It took me a moment to remember what she was talking about.

"Oh right, that guy right in front of us with the odd looking business suit."

That had happened a good hour ago, the second time we were at the airport. Our second visit went something like this:

Lots and lots of exasperated people everywhere, all waiting in chairs for the airplane to arrive.

"We finally found the gate!"

"We're soooooo early though."

Then I think we were sitting around, in the last open seats on the end. There was like, ten people standing right in front of our seats, presumably from the lack of extra chairs.

"Ugh, my hair is practically standing up on its own." I mumble.

"We should just fly on our Pokemon to Kanto." Mutters Sapphire.

I remember Emerald was sitting on top of three suitcases instead of actually being in a chair.

After a while, a rather unruly Emerald spoke up.

"Ruby! Sapphire! I forgot something!"

That's when the man collapsed, off to our right on the other end of the seats, he was one of the many standing huddled together.

Emerald started freaking out about his forgotten whatever and Sapphire was bored enough to go along with it. "Yea! Let's go back again."

I roll my eyes.

"That's why we're early."

Well, I don't think anything really happened after that though. They took the man to a hospital I believe, oh, and he had a tiny Pokemon with him.

"Saph, I don't think that's what caused the mob." I look over at her as our plane takes off.

Sapphire gives me another uninterested look. "I don't know then." She lays her head on my shoulder and promptly tries to make me think she fell asleep.

I sigh, and look over at Emerald trying my best not to move too much. "Do you remember anything about it, Emerald?"

"About what." He turns to look at me with a horrified look as the old lady set her bag on him while putting on makeup.

"Errr... About what might have caused that mob earlier." It was pretty cringeworthy watching the old lady drop lipstick on Emerald uncaringly.

"Ummm, maybe it was that Pokemon."

"Pokemon?"

"Yea." A tissue proceeds to be set on his head. "That one that-" gross. "Uh, you know what, never mind."

Emerald proceeds to hide in his chair best he could away from the lady.

The first time we visited the airport had been pretty relaxed, considering we had almost two hours to screw off. The only bad thing was that Sapphire still smelled pretty bad despite the two bathes I made her take after that mud spree.

When we walked in, there was a mass group of people in lab coats, and the group had the biggest amount of luggage I had ever seen. Almost all of them had small bags full of poke balls, too. The only reason I could probably remember them was that Sapphire had rather obtrusively ran into one of the group members, knocking down his bag of poke balls. I thought we had picked up all of them, but those are the only Pokemon I can think of. Maybe one got out of a pokeball?

I look back over at Emerald, about to ask him about it when the pilot announces that we are allowed to get up from our seats if we need too.

Emerald runs, as fast as he possibly can, to get away from the old lady asap.

I laugh a bit, causing the actually asleep Sapphire to mumble and move around, making my hat come down on one side. I cautiously put the hat back into place.

The old lady stands up to leave her seat next to me, and the five year old previously mentioned starts screaming about something. Sapphire turns again, but this time fairly awake and very much angry. The death stare from her eyes makes the kid go extremely quiet, and I stand up as the two engage in a rather cold-war looking staring contest.

"Emerald- where'd you go-" I quietly shout. Mumbles proceed to be heard from the bathroom a few feet from our seats.

I knock a little on the door, and Emerald loudly curses at me.

"I. Am. Not. Going. Back."

"Common.. It's not.. That.. Bad.." I lied to myself.

"I'll go back if you let me have your seat."

"Definitely not."

"You can sit on Sapphire's lap."

...

"Definitely not."

Emerald loudly sighs from the compartment.

"So, uh, even if you decide to spend the rest of the flight in the bathroom, what was it about that escapee Pokemon?"

"Oh, it was just some electric-type, an electrike maybe?" He pauses. "Let me have your seat, I'll owe you for the rest of my life."

"Like hell."

"I will probably stay in this bathroom for the remainder of my life rather than owe you. Common, please?"

Thus is the end of my tale, The Boy Who Died of Crazy Old Lady Makeup Fiesta.

"Ruby, wake up, we're in Kanto." A goddess poked my shoulder, clearly her only purpose was to bring me to the afterlife.

"I..can see the light." I murmur sleepily.

"Yea, it's Emerald's flashlight, now get up so we can go find Blue."

I open my eyes to see Sapphire leaning over me, and I dramatically look around to find that no lady or five year old haunted this dream.

"Rubyyyyyy, let's goo". Sapphire rather lazily drags me from my seat, our luggage waiting.

Emerald was waiting outside for us. "I can't believe you actually slept through the rest of that trip. I'd be too afraid that I may be poisoned with assorted things from the bag of doom."

"You owe me!" I yell rather drunk-sounding. "For the rest of your life!"

Blue and a very sleep deprived Yellow exit a nearby car, Blue cheerfully waving and Yellow looking uncharacteristically like she wanted to stab someone.

"Hey guys!" Blue waves faster until we all come over to the car.

"My hat's off to Yellow for whatever mentally draining tasks you've been having her do." Sapphire laughs nervously to my comment.

"Not literally." I say as Emerald throws a rock at me to try and knock my hat off.

Blue only smiles, and motions for us all to climb into the car.

That was my third mistake today.

Only mentally draining tasks awaited us at Kanto.

* * *

 **Crystal, Age: 17 Location: The Gym of Mentally Draining Task Forces, Kanto. Date: February 7th**

"I envy Silver so much right now." I sigh, looking down at my laptop in despair.

"On the bright side," Yellow pauses, looking around for Blue. "The wedding is on the fourteenth, so only a week to go."

"Yellow, you might say that, but you usually sleep a lot more than this, and you look quite a bit like death itself at the moment." Poor Yellow. She might be older than me, but I couldn't help but to think of her as a younger sister.

Green momentarily looks up from checking on what looks like napkin orders. "I better be getting damn brownie points for this."

A collective amount of sighing comes from everyone gathered around inside of Viridian Gym, sparking the appearance of head slave driver Blue.

"You guys treat this waaaaay to seriously, I'm not a slave driver."

The slave driver looks around at the teenagers and singular non-teenager.

"...Fine, you're done for the day." She says and puts her hands up in a way that can only mean 'Why do I even try'.

Gold immediately stands up, closes the laptop he was working on and bolts from his spot next to me, to the door on the other side of the building in a couple of seconds at max.

"So how are things going with Gold~" Blue comments suddenly right next to me as most of the people in the room follow Gold out with glee.

"Like we've been working on making your future sister-in-law's wedding as perfect as could possibly be, rather than the vacation in Kanto I was hearing about."

Blue doesn't look fazed by my comment of Green's sister, not that I expected her to be. "You'll get your chance~" Blue comments mysteriously grinning like a child playing with her favorite toys.

I did not like this side of Blue.

"So, um, I heard Red was invited."

"Yea." Blue comments after a minute.

"I haven't spoken to him in awhile." I say nervously, hoping I didn't start a worse topic of conversation than before.

"Neither have I." She says, being noncommittal. "I doubt he'll even show up."

Yellow peeks into the conversation. "I'm sure he'll come!" She says very perkily despite being half asleep.

"I'm sure you are right, Yellow."

Blue moves on from me and Yellow to sit by Green, who, unlike the rest of us, apparently gets no breaks from ordering napkins.

"Mmmm, when Red gets here, he'll get to see everyone again!"

"Yup."

"And it'll be like before he left!"

"Right."

I couldn't help but agree with the now ecstatic girl, as if any amount of negativity might infect her.

"I've.. Sent him letters, you know."

I turn to look at her, surprise lighting up my face.

"Did he ever respond?"

"Umm.." She pauses, sort of embarrassed from even saying anything about the matter. "He does, occasionally."

She was now whispering, as if she was afraid for anyone to hear her. "It used to be just stuff about the Pokemon league- I've never been there." She didn't look fearful, she looked indecisive and, like she was afraid for someone else. "Lately though, he's been poking into things.." What kind of things?

"Hey Yellow!" Calls blue. "Since you're still here, do you like this bubble design or the snowflakes better?" Yellow timidly stands up and walks over to Blue and Green, back to her shy self.

"Umm... What about... This one?"

"Oooohhh... Good choice!"

I walk out of the Gym, not sure if I should prod further into Yellow's life. As soon as I exit the door, Gold's voice surrounds me.

"Man, I thought you'd never get out of there."

"You were.. waiting for me?" I say, incredulously.

"Uh.. Well, Silver's not here to hang out, so want to go do something?" He says, oddly considerate.

My immediate thoughts were, 'did Blue put you up to this,' but I sort of wanted to savor the moment, so I continued on with him. We began walking down the path to Viridian City.

"I guess we could go out to eat." I say.

"Great!" Comes back the enthusiastic answer.

* * *

 **Silver Age:17 Location: A restaurant in Saffron City, Kanto Date: still Feburary 7th, and around lunch time.**

"So you're here to make sure I don't skip out."

"Correct."

"Why do you need to be here a week beforehand."

"To quote Blue, she said 'You need to make sure he doesn't run away.'"

"So I have a stalker for the next week, I'm overjoyed." Red says sarcastically.

"Whatever you prefer to call me." I say, pretty uncaringly.

"Sooo... Are you sure you can't just trust me to come on my own?"

"No."

"Absolutely sure?"

"Blue said she would kick my ass if I didn't bring you back with me."

"Do you listen to everything Blue says?"

"Without a doubt in my mind."

Red just looks away, muttering to himself.

"Hey look! Is that the champion?"

"Aaand time to leave." Red begins to walk out the door.

I follow him out dutifully, "I envy Crystal." With a sigh, I follow Red in doing just whatever the hell he does in his free time.

Today it seems he was going back to that new-ish laboratory, RAID or whatever. It stood for Researchers Against Inhumanity, and the D was for the name of the founder. Dunno who came up with that piece of shit name, but apparently it exists. The stupid lab came into being about a year before Blue and the others started having those problems with reporters and idiotic scientists. I would bet my life that these people hate Oak labs, but hey, I can't have them arrested without proof, and Blue already told me I couldn't retaliate.

Red waves at the security in the front, and they open the doors.

"Morning." He yawns as he walks in to the guards.

"It's not morning," I mutter, "just because you sleep in until ten."

I look around for various exits and figure out the basic layout of the building. It was about three stories tall, with an elevator almost in the center. There were around twenty rooms on the first floor, each a tiled, white, blank room unless it was in use. Some were offices for miscellaneous researchers, others had wires everywhere and heavy looking machinery. Each room had a white, metal door, and a window showing the contents of the room. I hadn't found anything illegal, yet. Not that anything illegal would be on the first floor in plain sight.

Even though Red had clearly classified me as his "stalkerish associate", and I had been allowed permission to enter and as well as an identity card, I still couldn't go with him to some of the lab sites upstairs. So, as soon as the elevator closed to the second floor, I had some free time.

I might've been afraid Red could get away, but the director here had laughingly assured me the only exit to this building was the front door, and maybe, (still laughing) a window. Yesterday I had pushed the limits of my boundaries and went through as much research information as I was allowed. Anything I could use. However, I still have yet to find anything incriminating. Perhaps if I could get clearance to the second, or even third floor...

Someone taps me on the shoulder from behind and I spin around holding my nonexistent knife, "Don't do that."

She laughs a bit and looks at me closely. "You're Silver, aren't you!"

"My name tag says so, I suppose." I say, narrowing my eyes.

"Haha, Blue has told me so much about you!" She says in return, holding up her own name tag. "I'm Daisy Oak, it's nice to meet you!"

My shock must've been clear, but it wasn't because of her name- moreso, from her card. She had clearance for all the floors- practically VIP.

"Ah, you must be here for Red! Thank you so much- I have been pestering him to go, but it's always good to have backup!" She pats me on the back reassuringly. "We're in this together!"

I had to get that keycard.

* * *

 **Platinum Age:12 Location: Kanto, in a limo, on the road. Date: February 10th**

"Speaking of Pokemon!"

"Speaking of Pokemon..."

"There are many status effects that Pokemon can get during battle."

"You don't say."

"Yea, apparently there's a ton, like poison, sleep, and paralysis!"

"I think you forgot a few."

"Really? Which ones?"

"Hunger and being stuffed."

"IDIOT, those are status conditions limited to you!"

Pearl slaps Dia and the manzai goes on. I giggle a bit at the last part, Dia's jokes about food always make me laugh for some reason.

We were on our way to Pallet Town now, but there was another hour to go even at this pace. I'm very glad that Dia and Pearl could accompany me on this trip, however.

I had to speak with the seniors. I had heard they could help me with my father's predicament, in fact, I had even heard that one of them witnessed what had happened to him! In any effect, I was very much so excited for this encounter. Perhaps I would gain some knowledge other than that on this trip as well- many of the seniors were very intelligent people, and two were even the son/daughter of Professor Oak and Birch respectively!

The only thing I'm worried about is the rumors of the Champion- one of the seniors- that he has been secluded for so long he might be crazy. Although then again, he has apparently been working in a lab lately, so he couldn't be so bad, right?

"Hey Missy!"I look over at Pearl, "so who are we going to see in Kanto again? They're all important people, right?"

"Yes, indeed they are. Many have done feats quite impossible sounding- like our adventures!"

"Right."

"So you're saying at least one is the hotdog eating world champion, right?"

"Most likely." I respond, followed by a fit of giggles.

Another hour goes by in a flash, between hotdog-eating-champions and bad jokes, Pallet Town greeted everyone in a flashy manner.

One group of people gawked at the fact a limo was parked in the rural town, and another group of colorfully-haired teenagers greeted them with welcome arms.

"Welcome to Kanto!" Yells a particularly sexy-dressed brown haired girl.

"Run while you can." Groaned the taller guy next to her.

"I hope you like it here!" A bright yellow girl, long haired, with an ranger uniform waved.

"You'll love Kanto!" A blue-haired girl with a weird hat smiled.

"Kanto's o-Kay! Gold approved!" Yells the black haired guy next to her while waving around a pool stick.

"It's so pretty here!" Yells a guy with white hair- no, that's a hat.

"The grass here is so soft!" A girl wearing a lot of blue, standing next to white hat person.

"What they said!" The last one was a very short blond girl- no, boy, who was sitting on the blue one's shoulders.

"What an interesting crowd to be trapped with for the next few days." Says an excited Pearl.

"So... If you're greeting us, where's the food."

The next hour was pampering and funny conversations, preparing us for something I never thought I would have to do while on s vacation- work in the back of a clean looking gym. What joys awaited us? Apparently none, according to the black haired boy with a stick.

* * *

 **Well, I tried to write more manzai, and I failed. Maybe I should stop that, but I probably won't ehehehe. I once had this really awesome thing for what RAID stood for, but then I forgot and couldn't exactly take back the name, so I improvised. Have reviews? Have suggestions? Want to know the secrets of the universe? Leave a review and I'll talk about it in my next chapter! Thanks for reading! Sidenote: Wow, I actually hit 4k words on this chapter. Woop. Another sidenote: I will usually update this story on Saturday. In the middle of the night.**

 **Yellow: Secret letters!**

 **Red: Infiltration!**

 **Blue: Evil mastermind!**

 **Green: _Brownie points_!**

 **Gold: May or may not be being paid off by Blue!**

 **Crystal: Went on an almost date!**

 **Silver: Keeping Red in line! Also, Infiltration!**

 **Ruby: Mud!**

 **Sapphire: More mud!**

 **Emerald: Guess what he forgot?!**

 **Platinum: Has three different names I use varyingly!**

 **Pearl: You write bad manzai!**

 **Diamond: You make good hotdogs?**

 **Silver: What kind of dumbass made up RAID as a name?**

 **Me: o_o"**


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